1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an energy efficient materials dryer, and, more particularly, to a thermal airflow management system featuring a hydronic heating element.
2. Description of Related Art
Dryers are among several common appliances used both in households and larger industrial settings such as hotels or laundries to dry clothes and linens. They may also be used on a larger scale to dry lumber, food, plastics, and tobacco. Dryers generally include a heated chamber where wet materials are placed for a period of time to allow moisture to evaporate, and may also include a trap to collect excess material such as lint, fibers or dirt, as well as a series of controls to select duration and heat strength of a drying cycle. Industrial dryers often feature a heat source that heats air in one chamber that is blown over wet materials in another chamber.
Clothes dryers may be found as an individual appliance, or sold as a combined washer-dryer unit. Conventional home dryers utilize an internal heat source, such as an electric coil or gas-fed burner, to deliver sufficient heat to evaporate moisture, and typically require adequate and constant heat to maintain a desirable chamber temperature to dry clothes or other textiles. As a result, conventional clothes dryers across the United States account for approximately 160 billion pounds of CO2 emissions every year.
Dryers must comply with local building codes to protect against fires that may arise from a build-up of waste materials. In 2010, almost 17,000 dryer fires accounted for approximately 450 injuries and deaths and nearly $240 million in property damage, in the U.S. alone. Over a third of these fires result from a failure to clean lint from the dryer exhaust ventilation ducts. The fire risk presented by an open heating source in conventional home dryers calls for frequent maintenance to ensure that lint does not build up to the point that it will combust.
Further, conventional home dryers use air from inside the house and exhaust this indoor-air into the outdoors as hot humid air after it has been cycled through the dryer. This creates a negative pressure within the home or other building that draws untreated outdoor-air into the structure. Inefficiency results from the need to condition both the indoor-air drawn into the dryer as well as the influx of untreated outdoor-air that caused by the negative pressure resulting from the dryer exhaust. Therefore, there is a need in the industry for improved dryer systems that improves safety and better manages energy efficiency.